The child’s 27-year-old mother was asleep inside the residence at the time of the incident and later tested positive for 0.7 promila of alcohol in her bloodstream.
Dramatic Rescue on a Sunday Afternoon
The incident unfolded at approximately 2:40 p.m., when residents in a multi-story residential block in Łomża noticed a small child standing on the outer side of a fifth-floor balcony railing. Recognizing the immediate peril, neighbors below scrambled to find something to break the fall. They managed to position a blanket beneath the balcony just before the toddler lost her footing and dropped.
“Sąsiedzi widząc sytuację zareagowali wzorowo, rozciągając koc na który spadło dziecko. Dzięki ich postawie nie doszło do tragedii,” stated Podkomisarz Karolina Wojciekian, press officer for the Municipal Police Commander in Łomża, as reported by local media.
When emergency medical services and police arrived, the four-year-old girl was conscious. She was transported to a hospital for evaluation. Video footage capturing the harrowing rescue subsequently circulated widely across Polish news networks and social media platforms, drawing widespread praise for the quick-thinking bystanders.
An Intoxicating Silence and Prior Police Contact
According to police investigations, the 27-year-old mother was fast asleep when the child wandered onto the exterior ledge. Subsequent breathalyzer testing confirmed she had 0.7 promila of alcohol in her system.
Local residents reported to regional outlets that they had spent a considerable amount of time violently knocking on the apartment door, desperately trying to wake the sleeping mother before the fall occurred. Unofficial accounts from neighbors also suggested that sounds of a gathering or party had emanated from the apartment during the intervening night from Saturday to Sunday.
Authorities confirmed that the family was already known to local law enforcement.
